Development of Conscience: A Comparison of the Moral Judgments of Deaf and Hearing Children1

Abstract

In studying some aspects of conscience development in deaf and hearing children, it was found that: (a) deaf children mature earlier than hearing children, or at a level comparable to them in response to situations involving independence from adults and peer reciprocity; (b) in situations involving recognition of the distinction between motivation and results of an action, hearing children score significantly higher; (c) by the age of 12 years, there are no measurable differences in conscience development as determined by the present data.